Chapter Text
Chapter One-A Frozen Promise
I trudged wearily down the sidewalk towards my apartment building. It had been an incredibly long day at work with summons coming back to back. I'd started at five this morning and it was now past three in the afternoon. My stomach clenched and growled, reminding me that I'd had nothing since my morning cup of coffee. Just need to get home and then I can get something to eat… my thoughts flicked to my empty cupboards and fridge. It was my first real week on the job after orientation and I'd been so wiped out each day that I hadn't made time to go grocery shopping. A loud burst of laughter startled me into lifting my eyes from the ground in time to see a trio of women spilling out of a café right in front of me. A sandwich board outside the shop listed the day's specials and the warm scent of fresh bread spilled from the doorway. My stomach gave an even louder growl than before. Before I could convince myself to save money and just get groceries, my feet were carrying me inside.
I stopped at the host stand and waited while a frazzled young lady in the café's black and white uniform hurried forward.
“I'm sorry, miss, all the tables are full! The wait will probably be about an hour.”
Disappointment slammed into me. “An hour? Oh, man…” I let my wistful gaze drift around the room one more time, preparing to leave. A familiar head of black hair atop wide shoulders caught my eye and his name slipped from my lips before I could reel it in.
“Zayne…?”
The man in question snapped his hand closed - was that a cat? Made of snow? - and looked up. It was definitely my childhood-friend-turned-doctor, and he didn't look that pleased to see me.
“Oh, you know each other?” The hostess asked with a relieved smile. “Maybe you could share a table!”
I hurried to back out before things got more awkward, “Maybe that's not a good-”
“Please, sit.” Zayne interrupted, cool as his Evol.
I sat.
The waitress plopped a menu down in front of me and sped off with a cheery “I'll be right back!”
Zayne and I were alone.
Our last meeting, my physical exam for work, had been awkward at best. It looked like it would be up to me to make this one different, as Zayne was calmly perusing his menu and not even looking at me.
“Was that a snow cat I saw you making with your Evol earlier? It was really cute.” I offered, like throwing out a lifeline.
“No. You must be mistaken.”
Well. There went that. I tried one more time.
“The weather’s really nice today, huh?”
“Mhm.”
I floundered, but was soon rescued by the return of the server to ask for my order. “I’ll have the lunch special, please,” I said. She responded with a cheery “Coming right up!” and sped back off with my menu.
Zayne’s eyes remained on his phone and I was too intimidated to break the silence. Finally, after an eternity (approximately four minutes), the server returned with both our lunches. The arrival of the food gave me an excuse to remain silent without seeming awkward, and I was grateful for it. So, it startled me when his soft voice broke the silence.
“You’ve just finished your first week at the Hunter’s Association, yes? How did it go?”
I glance up, and his face seems openly curious. I was reminded of when we were children, how rarely he initiated conversation between Caleb and me, but always listened to our conversation. Maybe he was as nervous as I was?
“It’s been good,” I replied. “It’s been a lot, but I’ve been doing my best to keep up with proper sleep and meals, don’t worry!”
He frowned, just slightly. “It’s nearly 3 PM. Isn’t that late for a lunch?”
“If it is, aren’t you in the same boat?” My gentle teasing was rewarded with the tiniest uptick of his lips. I felt sure only those who knew him well would recognize it as a smile. He turned his attention to his meal for another moment, before asking, “How has your grandmother been?”
“She’s been well, especially once she heard my case had been transferred to you after Dr. Noah’s retirement. She said she could rest easy, knowing I was in good hands.”
The familiar cold mask seemed to drop over his face again after that, and he stared down at his plate. We continued the rest of the meal in a slightly strained silence. Once our plates were cleared, the server returned with a plate of taro ice cream for dessert. Had he ordered for both of us? She cleared our plates and left. I couldn’t help staring at Zayne.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Nothing, I was just… didn’t this place used to be a pet store?” I grasped at anything to cover for the fact that I had been blatantly staring at him. “I feel like I remember seeing you around here a few times.”
“I was probably on my way to the bookstore nearby. Here, your ice cream will melt.” He pushed one of the plates across the table to me.
The ice cream was arranged in the shape of an adorable, fat seal. The image sparked a memory of the last time I remember seeing Zayne as children.
“Do you remember that trip we took to the aquarium, to see the seals?”
He looked up, focused on me again.
“I was so mad when that seal threw ice at me!” I continued, wrapped in the happy memory. “And then, the very next day, you sent me that box of snowballs! Just to tease me!”
“...to tease you?”
“Mm-hmm! They were arranged just like this ice cream, actually, which is what made me remember it.”
He huffed. “Those…snowballs. Do you still have them?”
“Well, yeah. You made them with your Evol, so they didn’t melt.”
His mouth did one of his patented not-smiles again. I continued, “I had actually planned on using them to start a summer snowball fight with you, but… who knew I wouldn’t see you again.” My voice trailed off. I was still unsure about how things had ended back then. Zayne had basically vanished overnight. Sure, I knew he was going off to medical school–the youngest in who knew how many decades to be accepted to the program–but I had thought we had been good enough friends as children to keep in touch. Instead, it had been a decade of silence and I was no longer sure how well I knew the man I now sat across from.
The man in question stared out the window, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. We finished our dessert in another block of silence, but somehow this time it seemed less awkward and closer to the simple quiet we had often enjoyed as children whenever Caleb–our chaos incarnate–was elsewhere.
Outside the restaurant, the host wished us a nice day. I was strangely reluctant to let this moment end.
“I used to walk by here all the time on the way home. It’s changed so much,” I said.
“Still reminiscing?”
“Well, if I hadn’t met back up with you, I might not have noticed how much things change with time. Except for those three snowballs, of course,” I couldn’t help the gentle jibe.
He shook his head. “Please forget I ever made those.”
“Done teasing me, then?” I laughed.
“Or maybe, I was never teasing you to begin with.” As he spoke, he caused his Evol to coalesce between his palms, forming what looked like a small snowball. Using his fingernail, he added to the side facing away from me, and when satisfied with his creation, handed it to me. It was a perfect little, fat snow seal, almost exactly like the ice cream. Like the “snowballs” from so many years ago.
“Please, try not to mistake it for some snowballs this time.” His tone was shifted, just slightly, and I knew he was teasing me. I smiled.
He cleared his throat. “I… have to return to work this afternoon. This restaurant was good, I’d like to eat here again. We… should eat together again. When we both have time.”
“I’d really like that, Zayne. Just… promise you won’t disappear again?”
His faint smile dropped again at that, and he looked away from me briefly. Then, he brought his gaze back to mine and nodded, before turning and walking away.
I stood for a moment, still frozen in that final glance.